Camilla Blaffer calls it her “best find.” A grimy old-master painting of a saint gazing upward, his hands crossed on his chest and a skull perched on a rock in the foreground. A friend of Ms. Blaffer’s bought the canvas, without realizing who painted it, on her behalf about 20 years ago at a small Paris auction. That canvas, along with hundreds of other artworks and decorative objects, languished in a warehouse outside Paris. Some years later Ms. Blaffer asked her friend John T. Spike, an art historian and a scholar in residence at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at...

DANIA BEACH, Fla., -- The International Game Fish Association in Florida said a 427.9-pound yellowfin tuna is not a world record because someone else touched the angler's pole. The organization said the giant fish, caught by Robert Pedigo aboard the Journeyman off the coast of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Thursday, is not eligible for the world record because Danny Osuna, a captain working as a deckhand aboard the Journeyman, touched Pedigo's pole while he was struggling with the tuna, FoxNews.com reported Friday. IGFA rules state a world record fish must be caught without any help. "We have caught a lot of...

Good morning to my FRiends, fellow gardeners, future gardeners, and lurkers! It is beautiful and sunny today here in NELA. We received 2-1/2 inches of rain earlier in the week and it is still very wet in the yard and garden. I've been keeping busy with my bee yard ... I got called about a swarm day-before-yesterday, about 25 miles south of my house. I still had all of my bee catching equipment in my truck from doing a hive cutout last weekend, so off I went. Below is a photo of the swarm when I got there, and...

A dashing-red sea slug that seems to be hamming it up for the camera in the U.S. Virgin Islands has come into focus in this year's winning underwater photograph in an annual contest put on by the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. More than 700 images were submitted for this year'sunderwater photography contest, Ximena Olds' photo of the headshield sea slug against a brilliant background of green seagrass taking home the "best overall" award. Olds is a local Key Biscayne, Fla., resident. The photos were judged by a panel of experts that included: photographer and...

Three members of The Dave Matthews Tribute Band were arrested over the weekend on charges that they commandeered a swan boat on Lake Eola and accidentally capsized the watercraft, Orlando police reported Monday. Carlton Neil Newcomb, Ryan Michael Clifford and Derryck Christopher Gleaton were arrested at about 2 a.m. Saturday after officers responded to the lake. A police report said the boat had capsized, and Clifford and Newcomb were trying to get it back upright again. An officer ended up giving the men a rope to secure the boat to another boat, which was tied to the dock. SNIP Each...

In my assessment, the Smith & Wesson M&P Shield appears to be one of the more interesting product announcements to come out of the 2012 NRA convention that was recently held in St. Louis. With this announcement Smith & Wesson has thrown their hat into the ever crowding compact pistol arena.The M&P Shield is a striker fired weapon and is just .95 inches wide by 4.6 inches high and is just 6.1 inches long.It weighs 19oz. and comes chambered in either 9mm or .40 S&W. The feature that grabbed my attention is the thumb safety on the left side of...

A year ago, Chris Birch, 26, was a 19st beer-swilling athlete from the Welsh valleys who loved motorbikes and was engaged to marry his girlfriend at the time. However, after suffering a stroke, he woke up to realise that he was no longer attracted to women. He has since slimmed down, quit his job in a bank to become a hairdresser and is engaged to another man. Reflecting on the dramatic change, Mr Birch, from Caerphilly, told the BBC: “The Chris I knew had gone and a new Chris sort of came along. I came to the realisation that the...

Jefferson - Bill Brandel likes Ike, wants Willkie, knows in his heart Goldwater is right and is cool for Coolidge. The Jefferson city alderman and retired schoolteacher has amassed a collection of thousands of campaign buttons and memorabilia sporting slogans that resonated with voters, and some that didn't. His hobby began when he was too young to vote, when his grandmother gave him an "I Like Ike" pin back in the 1950s. Later he worked for Barry Goldwater's failed presidential bid in 1964 and started collecting Goldwater pins - some colored gold emblazoned with the candidate's name in Periodic Table...

Chicago - Everyone expected the "Hunger Games" would rule the box office. But one unexpected side effect of the hit movie and book series is that archery is now hotter than ever. Archery clubs and ranges across the country are seeing a huge boost in interest right now.

A few years ago a group of us were having dinner at a steakhouse, and among the people at the table were the terrific sports columnist Mike Downey and his wife, Gail Martin. The manager of the place came over to say hello; introductions were made. At one point in the evening I was making my way to the men's room and ran into the manager again. I said to him, "That Gail Martin you met? I think you're probably familiar with her late father." "Who was her dad?" the man said. "His first name was Dean," I said. Within...

Welcome to the 19th installment of the FReeper Weekly Recipe Thread for 2012. Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great? Please share a 'tried-and-true' recipe or seven- for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites! Here's the place to share and explore your latest and greatest favorite recipe. (All 2011 FReeper Recipes are on my profile page as an Online Cookbook Thread Link)

Happy Friday the 13th, and good morning fellow gardeners and FRiends! I hope that you are enjoying weather as beautiful as what we are experiencing here in NE Louisiana. Nights and mornings are cool and breezy, and the days very warm.I've planted 1.6 acres of bi-color sweet corn. We checked the seed the next day and it had already sprouted, and was pegged the following day. Perfect conditions!Looking forward to hearing what's going on in your neck o' the woods. The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds....

See the red carpet arrivals and interviews from the world premiere of “The Avengers” at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. ‘The Avengers’- See Robert Downey Jr., Joss Whedon live at premiere “The Avengers” stars assembled on the red carpet Wednesday night for the film’s Hollywood premiere. Didn’t get the call from Nick Fury? You can watch the event live right here (and the entire video later).

Is it safe to talk about punctuation again? Eight years ago, Lynne Truss’s best-selling “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” took, in the words of her subtitle, a “Zero Tolerance Approach” to the subject. Although Truss’s focus on errors drew the ire, if not the fire, of grammarians, linguists and other “descriptivists,” her book was, for the most part, harmless and legitimate. Still, it overlooked a lot. Maybe more than any other element of writing, punctuation combines rules with issues of sound, preference and personal style. And as Truss didn’t adequately acknowledge, even the rules change over time. The two big players...

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The golf ball sat at the bottom of the left pocket of Wayne Mitchell's green cargo shorts. "I've got a zip on it," Mitchell said of the zipper pulled tight across the pants leg. He might have considered a safety deposit box. Mitchell owned -- for a few hours, at least -- one of the most famous golf balls in Masters history. He got it Sunday afternoon after Louis Oosthuizen double-eagled the par-5 2nd hole, pulled the Titleist from the cup and, incredibly, underhand-tossed it toward the patrons seated behind the green. It landed in the hands...

Daughter Mary and I made a quick run through the gator farm rookery. It's still winding up but when it gets hotter I won't be able to handle it. I got enough for several posts, these are all I had the energy to process today, gonna take a nap now.This was the first outing for my Sony since it got back from the repair shop. No problems so far!

Welcome to the 18th installment of the FReeper Weekly Recipe Thread for 2012. Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great? Please share a 'tried-and-true' recipe or seven- for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites! Here's the place to share and explore your latest and greatest favorite recipe. (All 2011 FReeper Recipes are on my profile page as an Online Cookbook Thread Link)

A Los Angeles County sheriff's captain is being investigated for allegedly taking an inmate out of jail and going golfing. Cpt. Jeff Donahue reportedly took professional golfer-turned-jewel-thief Frank Carrillo out of the Avalon jail. Carrillo says Donahue wanted tips to improve his golf game. Donahue is now on medical leave. Sheriff's officials are forbidden from fraternizing with inmates. Carrillo, 41, was serving a two-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to stealing cash and jewelry from people at golf courses. He was at the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles then transferred to Catalina, where he became a trusty, which...

Good morning, FRiends and fellow gardeners! The weather has cooled-down a bit, the sun is shining and my grandgirls have been here all week. I am one happy blonde today.It rained again 2 and 3 days ago, so I haven't even disked up the garden spot yet, but that will get done Monday.All of the fruit trees and bushes that I've planted are doing very well and the regular rains have been perfect to keep them moist and off to a great start! Some of the raspberries that I planted were established plants, and some were bare-root canes. Many...

I know the rules of baseball can be arcane and--dare I say it?--Talmudic. But I saw something in today's Braves/Mets opener that I simply don't understand. I've done a web search but come up blank. It's the bottom of the second. Ike Davis is at bat for the Mets; first base is open. He has two strikes on him. He swings and misses at the third strike, but it barely touches the ground before being caught. Now as I understand it, this entitled him to run for first base. But he didn't. Instead he informed the umpire that the ball...

Bass Pro Shop advertising a Bushmaster AR15 O.R.C. M4 (Optics Ready Carbine) 16", 30-rd, collapsible stock. Curious about any FReeper experience with this carbine. Priced at $979.99 Out of stock at most of the usual places online, so I thought it might be a popular firearm. What is the FReeper opinion of this? This is a .223/5.56 NATO rifle. Not gonna debate .223 v .308 on this thread. That is a different purchase. Please provide your USEFUL opinions.

TWENTY-FIVE years ago, when bulky twin-speaker cassette players were still popular, Leyland E. George bought a nice, loud Panasonic for $90, clipped a shoulder strap to it and began his boombox ministry in Bushwick, Brooklyn. “I realized I could reach more people in the streets than any church, so I made the streets my church,” said Mr. George, 70, a Guyanese immigrant whose special brand of Christianity deplores the separation of people along racial lines. “I want to know why people see themselves as black or white,” he said. The box has been repaired often through the years, and is...

NHRA Pro Stock icon Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, a master of the internal combustion engine and a legend among the Chevrolet faithful, died March 29. He was 81. Jenkins, voted No. 8 among NHRA Drag Racing's greatest racers in a 2001 experts poll, scored just 13 NHRA national event wins but earned his well-deserved spot in drag racing's top 10 because no other individual has contributed more to the advancement of normally aspirated engines for drag racing competition than the legendary "Grump." “Everyone at NHRA is saddened by the passing of Bill ‘Grumpy’ Jenkins, not only a pioneer in the sport,...

New 'Girls Around Me' iPhone App Helps You Stalk Women Girls Around Me scans for women who have checked in on Foursquare, so you can find her and tell her you found her on the internet.You know how it's totally cool and normal and appropriate to just show up somewhere because you know there's a girl there, at that very moment, who you think is cute, even if she doesn't happen to know you exist? Oh, wait. I think that's called stalking. And it's the premise behind the new iPhone app Girls Around Me. The creepiest app I've personally ever...

Good evening, FRiends and gardeners! I deeply apologize for the delay in posting this week's thread ... this is an extremely busy time here on our farm, and when you've got just a handful of folks farming 3,000 acres, there are times when it is all hands on deck all night long. The rain has been spaced exactly right to be wrong, and we were down to the wire getting our corn crop planted.With that out of the way, how in the world is everybody doing with their gardens and plans for gardens? We have so many members with...

Holy cr@p! This zombie attack bike is powered by a chainsaw I'm sorry, did you think I meant a chainsaw motor? I suppose that's understandable (after all, two-stroke chainsaw engines are often used to convert bicycles into rear-wheel-drive motorbikes), but I didn't say chainsaw motor, did I? I said chainsaw. Because whoever pieced together this unholy death machine has clearly left the power source attached to a number of other components. They've even opted for a FWD conversion so that the saw's guide blade and cutting chain could be front-mounted. 100% terrifying, 100% brilliant. Perfect for plowing through hordes of...

Welcome to the 17th installment of the FReeper Weekly Recipe Thread for 2012. Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great? Please share a 'tried-and-true' recipe or seven- for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites! Here's the place to share and explore your latest and greatest favorite recipe. (All 2011 FReeper Recipes are on my profile page as an Online Cookbook Thread Link)

The 1940 census will be released online on April 2, 2012. Please bookmark this page: 1940census.archives.gov. This is where you will be able to access the digitized census records starting on April 2. The digital images will be accessible free of charge at NARA facilities nationwide through our public access computers as well as on personal computers via the internet. Part 1: General Information FAQs about the 1940 Census 1940 Census Forms Questions Asked on the 1940 Census Selected List of Codes 1940 Census Lectures by NARA staff nationwide Part 2: How to Start Your 1940 Census Research

MATAGORTA BAY, Matagorda County - For hours after their boat sank, Ken Henderson and Ed Coen treaded water in the Gulf of Mexico, talking about life and death while struggling to survive. For more than 30 hours, it worked. Then Henderson was forced to make a decision that would save his life, but not his best friend's. "This is the last-ditch effort, but I'm going to go for help or you're not going to make it," Henderson told Coen, just before cutting the strap that connected them in the deep, cold waters off the Texas coast. "I understand," Coen responded,...

Woman won online essay contest and popular voteA Bay Area woman has just claimed an award even she didn't expect: Extreme Huntress of 2012. Think of it as the "Miss America" of the hunting community. It's a big deal. Concord resident Tiffany Brewer recently won the nationwide contest, sponsored by Tahoe Films and Tom Opre, host of the NBC Sports outdoors show "Eye of the Hunter." Entrants had to submit a 500-word essay on why they considered themselves the Extreme Huntress. Ten finalists were chosen based on their essays, then it was up to popular online vote to determine the...

Before we discuss why it is men can't and shouldn't stop looking at women in the street, I'd like to explain about the girl in the miniskirt on the bicycle. It was the first of the warm spring days that inflated Toronto this week. I was on my way to work on my bicycle. Two blocks from my house, I turned right and found myself 10 feet behind a young woman. I use the word “behind” hesitantly. She might have been 20. I am 58. She had long blond hair, and was wearing a short putty-coloured jacket, nude hose –...

Gallery: Familiar-yet-alien Soviet arcade games While playing Centipede (don't judge) at my local mall in the '80s, it never occurred to me that somewhere behind the soon-to-fall Iron Curtain there would be some punk playing the Soviet version of arcade games as well. Hell yeah they were! Now, thanks to two nostalgic Muscovites who remembered their days of playing "Sea Battle," there is an entire museum full of these Soviet-era games. The story of the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines is so cool we couldn't make this up if we tried. Let's talk about the games first. Soviet classics Sea...

Welcome to the 16th installment of the FReeper Weekly Recipe Thread for 2012. Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great? Please share a 'tried-and-true' recipe or six- for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites! Here's the place to share and explore your latest and greatest favorite recipe. (All 2011 FReeper Recipes are on my profile page as an Online Cookbook Thread Link)

Sony may be working on a full frame square format digital camera, looks like a Hasslebad! I'm not gonna ask how much this will cost, but I can dream, can't I? My Sony A-200 left the repair shop today, headed home, for the 2nd time, they didn't get it right first time. I've been without a good digital camera for about 5 weeks now, just gnashing my teeth and moaning!

Just a teaser from fighter collection site (www.fighter-collection.com)about the airshow at Duxford coming up on June 30th&July 1st 2012 Some nifty HD shots on the clip http://player.vimeo.com/video/37599899

Good morning, FRiends and fellow gardeners! Hopefully everyone has received beneficial rain this past week. We've had an additional 2 inches, which was a blessing because just to the south and southwest of us as much as 10 inches fell. While the area needed the rain, it didn't need it all at one time.Looking forward to reading what you're doing with your gardens and plans this week. Photos will earn you bonus points! :^) It is too wet for me to do anything in the garden, but I do have lots of raspberry bushes to get planted. Then, the...

While Apple has a well-earned reputation as the inventor of new markets, it's also something of a serial killer. The company's advances in digital music players made the Walkman an afterthought. The introduction of iTunes sounded a virtual death knell for many record retailers. The iPad cut the legs out from under the once fast-growing netbook PC market. And the iPhone has put Motorola in a fight for its life. Now, the company looks to be focusing on the video game industry -- and plenty of people are rightfully scared. The sheer numbers are overwhelming. In 2011 alone, the company...

Researcher Debby Herbenick. BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Findings from a first-of-its-kind study by Indiana University researchers confirm anecdotal evidence that exercise -- absent sex or fantasies -- can lead to female orgasm. While the findings are new, reports of this phenomenon, sometimes called "coregasm" because of its association with exercises for core abdominal muscles, have circulated in the media for years, said Debby Herbenick, co-director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in IU's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. In addition to being a researcher, Herbenick is a widely read advice columnist and book author. "The most common...

In an excerpt of "The Big Miss" released by the New York Times on Saturday, former Tiger Woods swing coach Hank Haney writes about his perception of Woods as often feeling jilted by the media and his peers.

Welcome to the 15th installment of the FReeper Weekly Recipe Thread for 2012. Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great? Please share a 'tried-and-true' recipe or five- for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' Recipe Stack of Family Favorites! Here's the place to share and explore your latest and greatest favorite recipe. (All 2011 FReeper Recipes are on my profile page as an Online Cookbook Thread Link)

Good morning FRiends and gardeners! During the rain this past week, I've had a chance to do some reading and found some articles that may be of interest to you. So this week I am sharing links, and I hope you enjoy them and find some useful information. I also hope that you'll check in and let us know how your garden/garden planning is coming along.In Kitchen Garden Creation, you'll learn about growing culinary and visual delights in the same place.The following links are for those interested in improving the structure of their soil. If you have rocks or...

1692 Salem witch trial document sold at auction The original court indictment of Margaret Scott, an elderly Rowley woman, was hanged during the witchcraft hysteria in Salem in 1692. (Swann Auction Galleries) (CBS/AP) SALEM, Mass - A document from the Salem witch trials was sold at auction for $31,200 when it hit the auction block on Thursday. Pre-auction estimates put it between $25,000 to $35,000. The original court indictment of Margaret Scott, a widow from Rowley, Massachusetts in her 70s, and one of the last people hanged during the 1692 hysteria in colonial Massachusetts. It was part of a private...